


I Airport You

by DreamsAreMyWords



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Airports, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Deaf Clarke, F/F, Fluff, Meet-Cute, Misunderstandings, useless lesbian Lexa strikes again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23312962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamsAreMyWords/pseuds/DreamsAreMyWords
Summary: Lexa's a useless lesbian who instantly falls for a pretty blonde at the airport who happens to be deaf. If only Lexa could stop mixing up her signs, she might have a chance of scoring her number.From an anonymous prompt on tumblr: the sign for airport and the sign for i love you in ASL are the same handshape and location in the body with different motions. Concept: “I airport you.”
Relationships: Clarke Griffin & Lexa, Clarke Griffin & Raven Reyes, Clarke Griffin/Lexa
Comments: 127
Kudos: 678





	I Airport You

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't even intend for this to be more than just a quick drabble but here we are nearly 6k later  
> oops

The airport is bustling with people, but Lexa’s been stuck in place for nearly a full couple of minutes now, people hurrying around her as she stands stock-still just outside the lobby for Terminal E, knocked speechless as she stares at the most beautiful woman she’s ever seen in her life.

She’s also deaf, and Lexa has no idea how to talk to her without making a total fool of herself.

Lexa is torn between the urge to quickly search her phone for ASL signs and to keep staring at the pretty blonde she’s been enraptured with since the moment she spied her standing in line at Subway in the food court earlier today. That’s where Lexa had learned she’s deaf; she’d watched the woman signing to her friend, who was interpreting her sandwich order for her. Occasionally the blonde would speak as she signed, and while the brunette she was with seemed to easily understand her, Lexa did not; each word was the same high-pitched tone. Not that Lexa was trying very hard to understand her sandwich order at the moment, from where’d sat at her table making her way through her own cold cut combo that sat neglected and forgotten as she gawked. When the blonde wandered off with her friend, arms laden with their sacks of food, Lexa still sat where she was, dazedly lost in thought.

Then nearly an hour later she’d caught a glimpse of her again, this time outside an Auntie Anne’s where the brunette was snacking on a pretzel. Lexa nearly stumbled and walked into someone then, on her way to check on her flight status during a five-hour layover. 

And now, almost a half-hour after that, here Lexa is. Drifting just a little closer toward the lobby where the blonde sits, telling herself it’s more to get out of the way of the people walking around her than it is to get closer to the woman. The blonde is laughing and it crinkles eyes that are vividly blue even from this distance. She has the prettiest smile ever, and Lexa is overwhelmed by the butterflies in her stomach. 

Even more so when the woman actually looks at her. Lexa’s breath catches in her throat, stomach lurching as blue eyes glance her way. But then the blonde looks back at her friend and continues chatting with her, hands moving quickly. Lexa can’t drag her gaze away, even as the blonde’s gaze flits to her again, even as a flush heats Lexa’s face; the girl is pointing at her now, her friend glancing at her so Lexa knows they’re talking about her, but the blonde girl is smirking. Lexa watches her shrug, watches her tap the tip of her nose and move her hand back as she shakes her head, then points two fingers at herself. The girl she’s sitting there with snorts, the ghost of a smirk on her own face. “Of course you don’t,” says the girl sarcastically, and the blonde’s grin widens. Lexa burns with curiosity. What are they saying and why were they looking at her?

Oh shit. She might just find out, because now the two women are getting up. Lexa freezes in place, her heart in her throat as they walk up to her.

“You know it’s rude to stare,” says the brunette, and Lexa balks, especially at the woman’s next words. “Just ‘cause she’s deaf doesn’t mean she should be treated like a zoo exhibit.”

It’s like all the blood in Lexa’s veins turns to ice, horror dawning on her. “Oh God. Uh, I wasn’t— I mean, that’s not why I was— I just—” She swallows down her pride, ignoring the way her ears and face burn, and meets the brunette’s stern gaze. “I liked her smile,” she confesses in a weak, hushed voice, wishing she could just melt into the floor.

The woman snorts, turning to face the blonde who is waiting patiently, even looking somewhat entertained by this, and signs something far too quickly for Lexa to catch. Lexa hopes, prays, that she wasn’t just completely roasted and insulted, especially considering how the blonde laughs again. Blue eyes land on Lexa, warm and amused, and Lexa is tongue-tied but she knows she has to say something.

“I know a little ASL,” she stammers out, tentatively raising her shaking hands. She makes a fist and rubs it in a circle over her chest. “Sorry.”

The blonde’s brows perk in interest. She presses a palm to her chest before she taps two fingers against her other two fingers, and Lexa knows enough basic ASL to know she’s introducing herself a second before she begins spelling out her name.

_“C-L-S-R-K-A.”_

Even beyond relieved this girl is communicating with her, Lexa frowns. By the way she continues to squint in confusion, the girl seems to realize Lexa didn’t quite catch that, and she signs it again, saying the letters as she does so, though, in all honesty, Lexa struggles to understand her voice. But she can definitely hear an ‘a’ sound rather than an s, and an ‘e’ rather than an a. “Clarke? That’s your name?”

Clarke smiles and nods, dropping her arm and looking expectantly at Lexa, who fumbles to shove her phone into her pocket and grip her bag to free up a hand. It’s a little clumsy, contorting her fingers into patterns she can’t remember very well, but she thinks she does it, except she forgets the sign for X and hesitates before crossing two fingers. _“L-E-X-A.”_

“Okay _this_ is how you sign X,” interjects Clarke’s friend, who’s been watching their conversation with open amusement. She hooks an index finger. “ _This_ means I revoke you in the name of Jesus Christ, begone Satan.” She crosses two fingers the same way Lexa did, laughing when Lexa just chuckles nervously and Clarke playfully shoves at her. “I’m Raven.”

“Nice to meet you both,” says Lexa, glancing at Raven but facing Clarke so she can read her lips.

“You too,” says Raven.

Clarke tilts her head and looks at Lexa, eyes narrowed as though in consideration before she straightens with a smile. She extends a thumb and a finger into an L and holds it over the bottom of her face, the tip of her index finger on her chin, just below her bottom lip. 

Raven arches a brow. “Why are you signing that to her?”

Clarke rounds on her, maddeningly impatient, hands moving in a flurry of signs, and comprehension smooths out Raven’s face even as she rolls her eyes in amusement. 

“Oh. It’s your name,” she directs at Lexa. “That’s the sign she made up for you. Instead of spelling your name out.”

Lexa’s heart skips and her stomach flutters. She’s oddly touched. Clarke just gave her her very own name in ASL? 

“What’s hers?” She feels bad about directing the question at Raven when Clarke is standing right before her, looking expectantly at her, so Lexa quickly directs it at her instead. “What’s yours?”

Clarke’s lips quirk again as she lifts her hand, and shakes the letter _C_ into the air, dipping it back and forth. She looks at Raven a second later, touching a finger at her chin before pointing it at Lexa. Lexa recognizes that one too. _Tell her._

“Her dad picked it out for her when she was a kid because she was already picking up paintbrushes at like a year old. Not that she was any good with them,” adds Raven when Clarke signs some more, shrugging good-naturedly. “This is the sign for paintbrush.” Clarke wags two fingers in the air much the same manner she’d moved the letter _C._

Lexa thinks she’s going to do this sign right (she still finds herself blushing anyway, but she’s pretty sure she hasn’t stopped doing that since first laying eyes on Clarke, so maybe she doesn’t notice). She waves her hand over her face, brings her fingers together. She can’t remember if it’s the sign for pretty or beautiful. Clarke’s name, and the story of how she adopted the sign, are both (along with Clarke herself, but Lexa tries not to focus on that, ignoring the furious wriggling of her heart), so either one works. And she feels particularly proud of herself when Clarke’s smile stretches, a pretty pink tint on the apples of her cheeks. God, her eyes are such a gorgeous blue Lexa can’t stop falling into them.

Clarke clears her throat, biting at her bottom lip, and those blue eyes cut across to Raven now. She points at her before crossing two fingers together in an R and twirling them in the air to the side of her head.

“And that’s mine,” says Raven with a roll of her eyes. 

Lexa’s lips twitch. “Like crazy?”

“ _Loca_. She’s a dickhead,” she signs as she says it, shoving Clarke’s shoulder when Clarke just sticks her tongue out at her. 

Clarke signs something else to Raven now that Lexa definitely doesn’t catch, and feels another wave of nervousness as Raven sighs and turns to her. “She wants to know more about this pretty smile thing and to tell you that a picture would last longer.”

Lexa can actually feel herself sweating. “Um, well, I, uh.”

“She said she’s teasing you,” Raven interprets when Clarke grins and signs again to her. “She thinks you have a pretty smile too.”

Lexa swallows, biting her lip to curb the smile that wants to stretch wide on her face at those words and the flutters they send through her belly. Okay, she’s confident in responding to this at least— she lifts her hand.

 _“Thank you,”_ she signs, but falters when Clarke’s lips tug into a smirk.

“That was the sign for fuck you, actually,” says Raven helpfully, and Lexa blanches.

She begins stammering an apology to Clarke, but Clarke only smirks at her, one brow raising. She shrugs, and Lexa blushes even harder. 

Clarke signs something to Raven, hands moving so fast they’re nearly a blur, and Raven deadpans her. “No way, dude, I am not saying that.”

“What did she say?” asks Lexa curiously.

Clarke signs it again, more insistently this time, and Raven sighs, rubbing the back of her neck. “She, uh. Basically said she wouldn’t be upset if that was what you did sign, though.”

Clarke pulls her hands to herself, grinning now, and nudges Raven when Raven shoots her a glowering look. 

Raven rolls her eyes. “She said if you wanted to.”

“If I wanted to sign fuck you to her?” asks Lexa in confusion, and Raven huffs. 

“Okay, you know what, I’m not interpreting foreplay here,” she says, signing her words as she speaks; by Clarke’s grin, she clearly is unbothered and unsurprised by Raven’s behavior. “I’m grabbing a smoothie. Later.”

Lexa watches her stomp away toward a distant Jamba Juice, befuddled, until a phone floats into her peripheral. 

_“Sorry about her. She’s grumpy after our flight delayed,”_ Lexa reads. She flits a questioning gaze up to Clarke, who only smiles and offers the phone. 

Lexa types a response in the note app Clarke is using. _“Sorry. I did take a couple ASL courses in college but I’ve forgotten most of it now.”_

_“Easy to do when you’re not using it often. I forgot most of Spanish I learned. Raven is supposed to keep me refreshed but she’d rather stuff her face most of time.”_

Now that Lexa thinks about it, most of the time she’s seen the two of them, Raven has been eating. And that’s a creepy thought right there, since it tells Lexa how much time she’s spent watching them. Awkward.

But this is her chance. This is her moment. If she can just figure out how to ask Clarke if she’s hungry. Wait but no— that would be stupid, wouldn’t it? She literally just saw Clarke order Subway not that long ago. And is this even okay, to ask a pretty girl out in the airport for, what, a food court date? Geez. 

Lexa is sweating again.

She pulls her phone out and hits the notes, thumbs clumsy on the screen as she types. _“I can’t blame her there. I had some Jamba Juice earlier, it’s delicious.”_ Clarke nods in agreement, and Lexa, loathe to lapse into a stilted silence, word vomits some more onto her phone. _“It’s one of my favorite places to go in this airport. There and El Comandante.”_

Lexa swallows as she looks at Clarke, the two of them standing rather close since they were reading one another’s phone screens. This is it, maybe she could ask Clarke if she’d like to get to know one another, exchange numbers perhaps. She takes a deep breath and lifts her hand, planning to spell out the letters because she feels like this is something she needs to say aloud, but before she can Clarke grabs her wrist in excitement, her smile widening and eyes brightening. She points back at herself, flashes a pinky and then plucks at the air before her chest with her thumb and middle finger before cupping one hand in the air and fitting her other into it. Lexa’s brow furrows. Yeah, it’s definitely been a minute since she did sign but…she’s pretty sure that’s the sign for stop, if she’s remembering correctly. Stop? Why is Clarke telling her to stop? Is she sick of talking to her? 

Clarke signs it again, looks at Lexa with raised brows for emphasis and signs it slower, mouthing a word, two high-pitched syllables leaving her lips. Lexa squints. Oh! 

“Taco?” Clarke’s face breaks out into a grin when she reads Lexa’s lips. Lexa chuckles, more out of nervous relief than anything. “I thought you said stop,” she says, and Clarke laughs, shaking her head.

She cups a hand, taps the side of her other hand into it. _“Taco,”_ she says, though Lexa can read the way her lips frame the word better than she can understand Clarke’s voice. Clarke flattens a hand again, taps the side of her other hand to her palm. _“Stop.”_ Only one syllable now, a bit deeper in pitch than when she said taco, and Lexa nods in understanding, smiling. 

“Those are really similar.”

Clarke nods in agreement, smiling. Then she tilts her head, brows raising inquisitively, and signs taco again before pointing toward the distant food court. 

“Oh, you want to go get tacos now.” Her heart sinks. Lexa could happily stand here all day talking to her, but Clarke wants to leave, and Lexa can’t blame her for wanting some lunch. She probably wants to catch up with Raven too. “Um, okay. Maybe, uh…” Lexa hesitates, hating the way the tips of her ears warm as she fidgets with the strap of her bag and tries to work up the courage. “Maybe we could, um, exchange numbers or…” She trails off, frowning when Clarke half rolls her eyes and shakes her head, but there’s a wide smile still fixed on her face. Lexa blinks when Clarke points a finger at her, pressing it to the center of Lexa’s chest, and then points it at herself before signing taco and gesturing toward the food court again. Lexa’s eyes widen, warmth fluttering in her chest. “Oh! Oh. You want to go together?” Clarke’s grin is all the answer Lexa needs. She dips her head in a nod, eyes cutting away from Clarke as a shy smile overtakes her face, and the blush only increases when Clarke dips down a little, waving her hand to get Lexa to look at her. Lexa smiles apologetically. “Sorry. Yeah, let’s go.”

A thrill rockets through her when Clarke loops an arm around Lexa’s and begins steering her toward the food court. Okay, so Clarke did want to go get food! Cool. Though obviously this isn’t a date, they just met, but maybe by the end of it Lexa could work up the courage… As they walk, Clarke pulls her phone up and types something on it before holding the screen up before Lexa’s face.

_“What were you going to say earlier? Before I interrupted?”_

She was trying to ask Clarke for her phone number. Lexa’s stomach swoops; she’s going to have to wait until she builds up the courage to try asking again. “Oh, um, nothing. It didn’t matter,” Lexa says with a dismissive wave. She’s so busy blushing and looking away she doesn’t realize the way Clarke’s face falls.

Later, after they’ve ordered a taco each and slip into a booth together, Clarke is smiling again. They do small talk via their phones, chatting about one another’s busy days hurrying to make their flights, before Lexa asks where Clarke is from.

_“I lived in DC for a while, then I graduated from Gallaudet and moved to Arkadia a few years ago.”_

Lexa brightens at once, fingers tapping away quickly on the phone. _“That’s amazing! I’m in Polis!”_ Which is less than half an hour from Arkadia. Lexa’s belly flutters when Clarke smiles in delight. _“What are you doing in Arkadia?”_

_“I’m from there originally and moved back to be closer to my mom, plus I got a new job. I’m an art therapist! 😄”_

Lexa’s smile falters a little, tongue poking out in concentration as she contorts her fingers to spell _“C-O-O-L.”_ Clarke’s eyes flit from Lexa’s mouth to her eyes, and her grin just makes Lexa’s heart pound all the harder. Lexa plucks at her chest with her thumb and index finger, gesturing with a raise of her eyebrows. _“You like it there?”_

Clarke looks at her phone screen as she types out another message. _“I love it. Raven and I found nice place right near where we both work. She’s fancy-pants mechanical engineer at the Arkadia Air and Spaceport.”_

So they live together…Lexa’s heart sinks. Are they a couple? 

Clarke smirks as though she knows what’s going through Lexa’s head; arches a brow as she hooks her index fingers together, and Lexa struggles not to show the relief that floods through her. _“Friends.”_

Lexa forces her face to remain carefully calm as she nods, ignoring the jump of her heart as she types on her phone. _“She seems cool. How’d you guys meet?”_

Here Clarke’s smile fades a little, enough Lexa almost regrets asking and is about to wave it off when Clarke starts typing.

 _“Her and her boyfriend Finn got into bad car accident. Raven is paralyzed in one leg and Finn had some head trauma and lost hearing in both ears. Finn started coming to a support group where I volunteered, I did art therapy and baked cookies. We started talking and I helped him learn ASL. We became friends and one thing led to another and soon enough we started dating. He didn’t mention he already had girlfriend.”_ The smile she gives Lexa now is empty, brittle, and Lexa understands why her mood deflated now. _“We went out for a while but eventually I found out about Raven, and went and told her, and we both dumped him, and weirdly enough we became really good friends.”_

Lexa briefly puts her hand on Clarke’s forearm and squeezes in sympathy before she lifts her other arm and rotates her fist over her chest again.

Clarke shrugs. _“It’s okay. He was asshole. We’re both better off without him.”_

 _“You deserve better. Both of you.”_ Lexa smiles, a bit bashfully, when Clarke flashes her a smile after reading her screen.

 _“Thanks Lexa 🥰”_ She shows her, before quickly erasing the text and writing a new one. _“But that’s enough about him! What about you, what do you do?”_

Lexa crumples up her taco wrapper and takes a breath before shooting Clarke a rueful smile. _“I’m a music publicist. I work mostly with my sister’s band right now.”_

Clarke looks interested. _“Anything I’d know?”_

Lexa pauses here, a little confused, and Clarke understands at once, chuckling with an eye roll.

_“Just because I can’t hear it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy music. I can feel vibrations.”_

That’s so cool. Except Lexa’s about to pass out, because Clarke took her hand and put it on her chest to show what she means. Lexa nods, speechless, and just sits there for a moment when Clarke lets go of her hand. She jolts back to life when she realizes Clarke is just smirking at her.

_“Her band’s called The Grounders. They’re fairly new but they’re doing good, they’re opening for Hozier during his summer tour.”_

Clarke ponders it for a moment before shaking her head. _“I’ll check them out later! That’s awesome though. Sounds like fun job!”_

This is it. Lexa swallows thickly, ignoring the rising swell of panic as she begins typing, _“I know they have an interpreter at all their concerts. You should come to one sometime.”_

Clarke tucks her tongue between her teeth and shoots Lexa a cheeky grin before showing her the next line she types. _“What if I go with you and you interpret for me?”_

Like a date? Is Clarke suggesting that as a date? Or as friends? Raven is her friend and interprets for her. But surely Clarke meant that as a date? 

Lexa needed to pull some more deodorant out of her bag. She couldn’t stop sweating.

But when Clarke quickly types another message onto her phone, she goes cold. _“You’d actually be terrible interpreter for me.”_

Oh. Lexa can’t help the way her shoulders droop, somewhat. Well, she knows that’s the truth. She does suck.

But apparently, that wasn’t what Clarke was talking about.

 _“I’d be way too distracted staring at these.”_ Lexa has hardly a second to blink at the phone screen before Clarke is grabbing her hand and lifting it up, closely inspecting Lexa’s fingers. Lexa stands there with her heart pounding as Clarke drags her touch all along her digits. Clarke looks up, meets Lexa’s gaze, gives her a crooked smile and releases Lexa’s hand to sign. Opens the first two fingers on both hands into a V that she spreads apart, then swipes her palms together. _“Very nice.”_ Lexa got that. She can’t help the nervous grin that unfurls on her face. 

Lexa licks her lips, noting the way Clarke’s eyes fall to the movement, and feels a surge of confidence. _“I like talking to you,”_ she types. _“This might be weird but would you want to continue doing so? Exchange numbers?”_

Clarke beams, immediately opening up the contact list on her phone and hitting create new before handing it to Lexa, taking Lexa’s own phone when she offers it. They put their numbers in (Clarke puts a taco emoji next to her name and Lexa wishes she’d thought to add an emoji to hers) and then smile at each other for a minute.

 _“That’s what I was going to ask you earlier,”_ Lexa admits. 

Clarke smiles kindly, but her brow knits. _“You shouldn’t ever do that, you know.”_ Lexa’s own brow creases. When she looks questioningly at Clarke, Clarke adds, _“Tell deaf person nevermind. People say it all the time to us.”_

Lexa blinks. Clarke doesn’t need to explain. _“I’m so sorry,”_ Lexa types desperately, shame curdling in her gut. 

_“It’s okay! I know you weren’t trying to hurt me. But people say it to deaf people a lot, like it’s too much work to tell them what they weren’t able to hear, and it just sucks.”_

_“I’m so sorry,”_ Lexa repeats again, regret in every line of her face and hands shaking slightly as she types on her phone. _“It wasn’t that I didn’t think it was important, I just felt nervous and didn’t have the courage to ask if we could exchange numbers. I get what you mean though, it wasn’t fair to brush it off to you. I won’t ever do it again to you, okay?”_

Clarke’s smile quirks her lips up higher again. _“Thank you Lexa❤️ ”_

_“Anytime 🤗 “_

The tension in the air melts away, and they both settle back with smiles. _“Tacos and a phone number,”_ Clarke types on her phone, _“I’m a lucky girl today.”_

_“Maybe that makes up for your bad day missing your connecting flight,”_ Lexa responds.

Clarke grins. _“I would call today a win, considering I’ve just made a new friend.”_

Friend. 

No need to be disappointed by that, Lexa chastises herself. She wants to be Clarke’s friend, after all. If they develop into anything more, that would be nice, but even if they only stay friends, well, that’s okay too. Clarke is funny— hilarious, really— and sweet and seems like a wonderful person. Lexa’s glad they met too. If their relationship is nothing but her buying Clarke tacos and making her laugh, as friends, then she’s a lucky girl herself.

They speak for almost an hour more, covering everything from Lexa’s life in Polis— funny stories of her job, her temperamental cat Pauna’s habit of tearing into her cranky, nosy neighbor Nia’s flowers, the time her sister almost bought her a pet parrot, and the fact that she took a trip to Tondc not for business or pleasure but to visit her parents’ graves, as she has every year since she was sixteen, before she moved in with Anya in Polis. In return, Clarke speaks of her time at Gallaudet and how she nearly fainted when she first met Nyle DiMarco, of what life was like for her being born deaf and attending a hearing school most of her life near the hospital her mother worked as a surgeon at, about how she and Raven eat take-out at least five times a week, and how they just spent the weekend floating the river with their friend Luna.

Lexa could sit there forever with her, but of course eventually they’re interrupted by the buzz of Clarke’s phone signaling an incoming text message, which Clarke pulls a face at when reading. She flashes her phone at Lexa so she can see that Raven texted, telling her their flight was finally about to start boarding. Lexa’s stomach lurches with disappointment, but she smiles and nods and stands up when Clarke does, walking with her back to Terminal E.

It’s when they’re close that Lexa’s stomach starts twisting with nerves again. She wants to tell her how much this day has meant to her. That Clarke is beautiful and takes Lexa’s breath away, that she loves how expressive she is and how she’s both patient and teasing when she adjusts Lexa’s hands as she attempts to sign. That yeah they just met, but Lexa’s never felt like this before, that she felt something weird the moment she saw Clarke— that there’s just something special about her and Lexa really, really wants to know more.

Raven talks to them for a bit before bidding Lexa farewell and telling Clarke she’ll give her a moment to say her goodbyes (with a smirk Lexa doesn’t miss). Then they’re alone, Clarke turning to face Lexa and not grinning for once; she’s biting her bottom lip, running a hand through her hair and looking as sad as Lexa is that she’s going.

Clarke looks at her, lifts her brows and crosses her arms over her chest. _Hug?_

Lexa’s pulling her into an embrace before Clarke can even smile. She’s certain Clarke can feel the frantic race of her heart. Clarke’s hair smells far too lovely for someone that’s been in an airport most of the day, and this embrace feels far too natural and right considering they only just met a few couple hours ago. Clarke holds her back just as tightly.

When Clarke pulls back, she hitches her bag higher around her shoulder and takes a step back, smiling at Lexa, and signs to her, slowly so Lexa can catch it. She recognizes the sign for crazy as Clarke twirls her finger up by her head; it’s not as simple to recognize the sign Clarke does next, bringing each index finger together. But the next sign she does? Lexa recognizes that one right away, and it has everything in Lexa grinding to a halt, lungs promptly losing all air as her heart stutters. She gapes at Clarke with wide eyes, brows at her hairline. Clarke just signs it again, head tilted, waiting for Lexa to get it. And Lexa doesn’t even know what to think because she just met this girl today and she’s been all she can think about, and she’s sure Clarke is just saying it in a friendly way, like as a gesture, but something about it still has Lexa’s heart thudding frantically because she knows that this is what she wants. One day, she wants Clarke to mean it in a deeper way, too. 

But this is clearly a moment. _The_ moment, one Clarke is offering to her. So Lexa gathers up her courage, and she doesn’t wait another second. She steps forward and she kisses her. For one blinding, glorious moment, it’s just the two of them standing there, just the soft pressure of Clarke’s lips pressed to Lexa’s, the sweet scent of her perfume dizzying her head. Then she realizes how rigid Clarke is, how she isn’t responding, and Lexa rears back like she’s been burned. Her stomach lurches unpleasantly as she notices the way Clarke is just staring at her, stricken. 

Low-pitched noises rumble out of Clarke’s throat that Lexa takes to be “Uhhhhh,” and Lexa’s can actually feel her ears light up and glow with the force of the furious blush flooding her face. Clarke lifts her hands and they’re trembling so much she doesn’t really have to shake them, but she does anyway, her brows furrowing as she shakes her head in confusion. _“What was that?”_

“Um, you, you said…you said…” Lexa can’t say it, and she’s gaping so much Clarke is probably having difficulty reading her lips, so she brings her own hand up, weakly displays the I Love You sign while grimacing. She must have misread this whole situation, oh, God.

Clarke’s face clears at once, her eyes wide. She spells out a word. _“S—”_ damn it, no, that’s not an S that’s an A— _“ -I-R-P-O-R-T.”_ She smiles somewhat apologetically when Lexa’s own eyes blow even wider, and types out a message for Lexa to read on her phone. “ _I was signing airport. I said it’s crazy we met at airport.”_ When Lexa just stares, trying to process what the hell she should do next, Clarke quickly adds, _“It’s okay, it’s easy mistake to make! Airport is very similar sign to I love you.”_

Lexa nods numbly. She wants nothing more than to look away, but she can’t— she can’t do that. 

Clarke’s smile shifts into a smirk. _“I can’t sign THAT sign to you until you buy me few more tacos first, at least.”_

Lexa can hear Clarke’s bark of laughter as she buries her face in her hands and groans loudly. When Lexa looks up, her eyes are very nearly watering with the force of her blush and the nauseating wave of humiliation that seeps over her. Clarke’s grin fades, giving way to concern, but before she can say anything Lexa reaches up to hold Clarke’s phone and type a response.

 _“I knew you weren’t saying it like you love me I mean that would be silly and just crazy lol I thought you meant it as friends is all and I thought it was cute and I think you’re cute and- “_ she backspaces the and, fully aware she’s rambling, and shakes her head as she pushes the phone back into Clarke’s hand.

But Clarke doesn’t read it yet, still peering at Lexa in concern, her brow furrowed, and then she shoves her phone into her pocket without so much as a glance at it before stepping forward. Lexa goes still, eyes widening a split second before Clarke gently cups her face in her hands and kisses her.

It’s soft and warm and everything Lexa could have dreamed of, and she’s sure Clarke can feel the way her heart is thundering in her chest. Clarke pulls back a moment later and it takes Lexa a second to come back to reality, blinking hazy eyes and struggling to pull her gaze from those soft pink lips, especially when they’re curving up in a smile.

“But…” She struggles to think straight (it’s impossible for her on any given day anyway), frowning as she meets Clarke’s gaze. “I thought…I thought you didn’t like me like that.”

Clarke reads her lips, her smile tugging up wider and she rolls her eyes, releasing Lexa to use her hand. For a moment Lexa thinks she’s going to sign the okay sign with two hands, but then she moves her hand as though throwing it down, followed by lifting one hand up to her face, tapping the L to her chin, maybe signing Lexa’s name? Lexa frowns, puzzled, and then Clarke grins, pulls out her phone, quickly scans the message Lexa wrote before writing a new one and offering it to Lexa.

_“Useless lesbian.”_

Lexa’s mouth drops. Clarke throws her head back and laughs when Lexa looks up at her, half smiling, half scandalized. She presses her palm to her chest before tapping two fingers over another two, then pressing an L to her chin. “My name?” 

Clarke smirks, nods. _“Lexa,”_ her index finger is on her bottom lip, _“Lesbian,”_ index finger is at her chin. Clarke shrugs. _“Close enough.”_

Lexa laughs and Clarke does so with her, looking immensely pleased with herself, before she looks down at her phone again as a notification pops up. Her flight is boarding; the two of them glance over to see Raven waving impatiently at Clarke. _“I better go.”_ Clarke taps pointedly on her phone screen. _“You have my number. Text me sometime.”_

Lexa nods. _“I definitely will.”_

Clarke presses a quick kiss to Lexa’s lips and it tastes like a promise. She grasps her bag and takes a few steps backwards toward Raven, smiling as she lifts her eyebrows and her hand, holding Lexa’s gaze, pointing at herself, then aiming her hand at Lexa with her two middle fingers down and shaking it, then pointing at Lexa. _“I airport you.”_ She winks, actually winks, and Lexa bursts out in delighted laughter. The middle finger she sends at Clarke can’t be mistaken, and she just laughs harder when Clarke merely blows her a kiss in response.

She watches her go. Watches Raven smirk at Clarke and sign what Lexa now recognizes as the sign for useless, followed by spelling out a B and an I, and can tell by the shake of Clarke’s head and how she playfully shoves at Raven’s shoulder that she must be blushing as hard as Lexa has been.

It makes Lexa’s grin grow, especially when Clarke smiles and waves one last time before disappearing through the door to the plane. 

Lexa is still smiling when she sits down, staring at the floor as she relieves the past few hours, her lips tingling. She pulls her phone out. She knows it’ll be some time before Clarke replies since she’s busy boarding, so she pulls up google instead, and searches for some ASL classes in Polis. After she’s screenshot the dates, she pulls open her messaging app and types out a text to Clarke.

_Lexa:  
About that kiss…maybe sometime this week we can meet up and taco bout it? 🌮_

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Fun facts: one of my sisters is Deaf and she's had her fair share of awkward sign misunderstandings in life, especially considering she went to a hearing school for most of it, but here are two of my favorites:  
> A soccer coach accidentally signing 'fuck you' instead of 'thank you'  
> Once when was out on the court playing basketball and her coach was doing a hand sign for a Triangle play, holding his hands up high so she could see what he wanted her to do  
> the problem? His sign also happened to be the sign for vagina which he did not know. So my sister was out on the court cracking up while her coach was basically screaming vagina at her and everyone else in the gym with no idea he was doing it


End file.
